Circulating type packer and valve therefor



2 Sheets-Sheet l H. ALLEN Filed Augf 20, 1943 m WN www www@ 1 H wl- W E 4 z. 4 a

CIRCULATING TYPEvPACK-ER ANPVAILVE THEREFOR April 8,1194?.

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April 8, H ALLEN CIRCULATING TYPE PACKER AND VALVE THEREFOR Filed Aug. 20, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 HERBERT ALLEN VV TOR.

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.effective closure for such passage.

Patented Apr. 8, 1947 CIRCULATING TYPE PACKER ND VALVE THEREFOR l Herbert Allen, Houston, Tex., assigner to Cameron Iron Works, Houston, Tex., a corporation of Texas Application August zo, 1943, serial No. 499,393

This invention relates to a circulating type 'packer and valve therefor. 'i

This application is a continuation-impart of my prior co-pending application Serial N0.

' 291,180, iiled August 21, 1939, for Tubing packer.

For the purpose of packing off the space between the tubing and casing of a well there is provided a sealing means known as a packer, and

`these ordinarily consist of some deformable pack--` ing material surrounding 'the tubing and of some' means for compressing the packer material in an axial direction so as to cause it to expand laterally and engage the casing to form a seal between the tubing and the casing. In order to 'large clearance is left, high' pressures may cause `the packing to be extruded from its proper posi- -tion, forced outr of place and destroyed. With `such relatively small clearances left around the outside of the packer, it has been found neces- ,sary to provide what is known `as a circulating type packer having a 'passageway or passageways uprthrough the interior of the packer in order to permit fluid to ow past the packer as the device is lowered into a casing, in order to permit uid to be returned up around the outside of the tubing l whilethe well is `being washed by pumping down through the tubing, -and in order to permit the :well tobe flowed through the casing if that Claims. (Cl. 166-10) should become desirable at any time; and to `pro plete closure betweenuthe tubing and the casing. Considerable; difficulty `has been encountered in providing a structure which would afford ade- Aouate passage for uid to thus ow through the packer, and in proVidin-g at the same time an It is ageneral-object of this invention to pro- -vide animproved circulating type packer and an improved valve for closing the passageway there- Another object is to provide a device'V of the .class described inA which the passages through the packer are suiciently large that the throt- ,tling of liquid within the device is avoided.

Another object sto `provide a device in which 2 L l effective sealing of the valve is assured even though the valve seat or other corresponding parts may have been damaged by circulation of fluid through the packer. l

Another object is to provide a self-sealing valve for closing the passage through the packer.

Another object is to provide a valve having a self-sealing packing for closing the passage through t the packer in which the self-sealing packing will be prevented from `being extruded and destroyed either under mechanical or fluid pressure. Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following 'description ofthe drawings forming a part "of "this application wherein is disclosed one embodiment of the invention. l 1 .Y

In the drawing: Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view through 4a device embodying the invention. i

Fig. 2 is a sectional View similar to that shown in Fig. l but showing the relative positionof parts when the packer is set andthe circulating passage therethrough is closed. l

Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view taken 3-3 of Fig. 2. Y A l Fig. 4 is a sectional plan view `taken on the line on the line `ll---ll of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view partly in section showing the valve sealing assembly which `constitutes an element of the invention,

Referring more in detail to the drawings, there is shown a circulating type packer and valve therefor constructed in accordancewith this invention and adapted to form a seal within a casing I. This circulating typepacker is generally .indicated at 2 and is carried on a tubing3 through which it may be desired to wash or iiow the well.

Threaded to the lower end of the upper section of tubing or flow string 3 is a valve composed of a valve cage 4 having a counterbore 5 therein adapted to receive a `valve sealing assembly 6. This assembly has a bore 1 therein, through which extends the upper end of atubular Vmember or extension 8 forming an extension of the upper section of the tubing or flow string 3. This tubular extension 8 is threaded into the valve cage 4 so that itsrinterior will be in communication with the interior of` the upper tubing section-3, and spaced slightly below the open end ofthe counterbo-re is provided with a laterally'extending portion providing an upwardly facing shoulder adapted to enga-ge thev lower or outer end of the valve sealing assembly S and hold vit in place within the counterbore. l .v Y

' head Il are resilient packer rings 2l! which are .end of: the section 8- slidalolyY extends.

between the; sleeve 23 and the coupling. member thelowerend of the section 3;

Vtl'lejnipple,35.and'is connected to an anchor pipe Itiis tobe understood that the.. anchor pipe. 4I Y will, bejof.A such. length. that. the. packer willv be The tubular extension 8 extends downwardly through the packer 2 and the packer is retained thereon by means of lugs or stops l5 spaced peripherally about the exterior of the section 8 and adapted to engage thelower end of a mandrel 5 I on the upper end of which is carried the packer head I-'l havingravalveseat I e thereon for a purpose presently to he described. t

Surrounding the mandrel l below the packer separated by a spacer ring 2l. A packer retainer ring 22 slidably surrounds the mandrel ld. below,` the lowermost packer ring 2B and heldin place upon the mandrel by means of a.- shorty sleeve- 23 attached to the mandrel and havingfan. internal bore of suflcient diameter to expose the end ofj the mandrel and present ashoulder 24 against which the stops I5 may abut. Thus the entire packer assembly may be suspended upon the tubular extension 8 andits downward movement thereon -will beY limited; Y

. Threaded to the-retainer ring 22 and-extending [downwardly therefrom aroundl the short sleeve 23 is a nipple 30 having perforations 3| there through of: desired size-and numberto accommodate the-flow whichy it is intended for the. packer to permit when its valuev is in open position.

This ynipple 30eis threaded at itsflower end to a special coupling 32,Which isV recessed internally torreceive a seal ring 33 through whichthe lo-wer 30 A, seal is thus formed to prevent the passage of fluid between the. couplingz32v and the outside of the section; 8.; A. compression spring all is interposed 35 32 to exert-.aforcelwhich tends to keep said'sleeve vand coupling member in spaced. relation.

A tubing nipple 35 is connected: to'the lower end ofthe coupling V32 and hasan internal-bore sufliciently largetoreceive a` collar 36 carried on=` This collar has radially extending keys V31T longitudinally thereof andftliese keys' slidablyt within lreyways` 3'8 inv the interior of thenipple 35 to provide Vaislidable v'but non-#rotatable connection between theL nipple 35Aand the extension 8.

In the form illustrated` in the drawing a reducer coupling 40 is attached to the lowerend of el which exrendstotne bottom ef theV Wen.V The threadedconnection 42 between the anchor pipe ,and the coupling dmay be either a right or a left-hand connection. ItA is preferabla' however thataleft-hand thread be providedin thisconnection so thatlifdesired or. necessary the device may, be unthreadedj, at'` this point. by, rotating.. the tubing or flow stringV 3 right-handedly so as to f avoidlthedisconnection of.' other. couplingsin the String.

positionedy at; the .desired level within the well. It

.vi s.a1sc,tc..be understoodthat this, pipe may inn clude either a. liner and screen. on a permanent Y packer setting or may merely,bea-.perforatedpipe for. production tests.

' References is, no w had particularly',` toglg.. 5

wherein is.n shown.. a self-sealing; type of. sealing I assembly 6 forthefvalvefwhich isadapted to close 70 the. passage down.. through. the.. packer;l 2.-.. This valve sealing, assembly tA in i the-V form. illustrated consists ofagram assemblydmade up of. two

:concentric annular ram elementsv preferably though not necessarily.d joined, together. at. nter 75 t two elements.

, these annular ram elements and terminating at one end in a surface forming substantially a ccn- ,tinuation of the. seating surfaces 43 is a body of packing ory sealing material 5e which may be molded or otherwise put in place between these This body of packing material 50 extends beyondv the upper or 'inner ends of the ramelements and overlies them with a substantial body of packing material as shown at 5|. The packingmaterial employed maybe. rubber or some similar material soft... enough.V tok forml .the desired seal andsumciently fluent to. flowtunder pressure. v l n lIt will be seen that when vthe valvesealing assembly iiY illustratedfin Fig. 5 is in place withih the counterbore in the valve caged-asillustrated in Figs. l and 2, it will be held inv place by.y the Vsl'ioulder-:Q- on the tubular extension 8... When thisvalve cage d is" moved downwardly so that theram elements contact the valve seat I8 along the surfaces e8, the-ra-massembly will. be forced further into the counterborev in the valve cageg4. When this occurs, the portion 5| of the body of sealing material will be put under pressure and thebodyof sealing material willr be urgedby this pressure to flow outwardly through theannular `space between the ram elements. This will cause itito exert a greater pressure against the; valve seat' I8 between-the ram elementsand thuseffcct aseal. This seal will be. effected" even. though thevalve seat i8 may have: beenzsomewhat dam-Vr agedf'or even'thoughfthere may bef minor. obstructions' thereon; because thej'pressure off the. ram

assembly'againstthei packingfmaterial `will cause ritztor ll. minor cutout' portions: inthe seatlandto iow'around any minor obstructions onf-theseat.

either direction by. pressure of" uid tending to :nowf'through the packergor vby the' pressure lproduced` inv the'V sealingvr vmaterial tiili by* the rams It will thus be seen that a been provided which is capable of; effectively cl'osing: the howl passagev throughv packer-` 2' even though.thevalveseatmay have been' damaged or maybe obstructed, whichclosure will'at the Sametime be capable of effectively resisting relativelyshigh operating fluid pressures.I

.Attention is directed to Vthe fact thatfthe passage: through f the mandrel f6? isA relatively large. Hence in. assemblingfthe devicethe shouldered upper end. 9? of. the 'section 8" mayv be passed therethrough before connection is `made'withtlie valve; The: principal" utilitarian..*val-"ue1 'offfthis feature; however, resides in the' fact'- that'L large passages? are provided. for the by-passing ofliquid during4 the descent of the device into the wel1or duringzthef. washing orprclduoingi of' the'-well It'` is;v believed th'atf the operation of' the device is, apparenti fromV theiforegoing descriptionl but it is Anoted that whenuusing: the 1 devicefillustrated, a, correct; length 'of' anchor pipey M i's= 'r'siv atvalve means has Vafname.

tached `tothe lower end of the packer. The device is then run into the well on the flow string 3 until the anchor pipe contacts thebottom of the hole. It will be understood, however, that the device may be anchored in any other suitable manner. The well may then be washed any desired amount, the openings 3i in the nipple 30 permitting the washing fluid to pass freely into and through the mandrel it. Tendency of the packer to set under the pressure of the washing fluid is thus minimized by reducing the pressure drop between `the lower and upper extreiniu ties of the packer, i

When washing is completed the tubing or now string 3 is lowered so that the valve sealing as- -sembly 6 contacts the seat I8 on the head Il and moves the head Il,V mandrel i6 and sleeve23 downwardly against the 1 compression of the spring 34. Since the packer retainer ring 22 is anchored "against downward movement, this downward movement of the head Il and associated parts compresses the packer rings 20 in an axial `direction and causes them to expand laterally into sealing engagement with the casing I as is clearly shown in Fig. 2.

As has been explained, the ram elements forming a part of the valve sealing assembly 5 will contact the valve seat i8 thus forcing the ram assembly provided by these elements further into the counterbore 5 and urging the sealing material E!) to flow outwardly and downwardly y through the annular space between the ram elements and into tight sealing engagement with the valve seat i 8.

` It will be understood that the device set forth in the foregoing description and the accompanying drawings is by way of illustration and examg ple only and that this invention is not to be construed as limited thereby.

Having described my invention, I claim:

l. In a device of the class described, a packer including a head having an upwardly facing seat thereon, a tubing string and a valve on said tubing string movable with said string to engage said seat and control the discharge of fluid through the head about the tubing string, said valve comprising a Valve cage removably connected in the said string and an annular valve sealing assembly tting telescopically therein,

said annular assembly including substantially rigid parts providing an annular downwardly opening channel therein, and a body of resilient material conned and filling the spaces between the valve cage, said parts and the tubing string,v

and filling said channel.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination of a ow string, said ow string including upper and lower telescopically connected sections, a packer surrounding the upper section and providing an annular passage between itself and the upper section, an upwardly facing valve seat on the upper end of the packer, a valve member carried by the upper section of the now string and adapted to engage said seat, a packing retainer ring on the lower end of the packer and a perforated tubular connection between the lower section of the iiow string and said ring.

3. In a device of the class described, a ow string including upper and lower telescopically connected sections, a packer surrounding the upper section in spaced relation to and longitudinally movable relative thereto and including a mandrel, an upwardly facing valve seat on the upper end of the mandrel, a valve member carried by the upper section of the flow string and vconnection between the mandrel and the .lower section, spring means normally urging the mandrel and lower section to extended position and a shoulder on said mandrel engageable with said ring to prevent separation of said mandrel from said tubular connection.

4. In a device of the class described, a flow string including upper and lower `sections telescopica-ily interconnected at their adjacent ends, a fluid excluding seal between said sections whereby well fluid is `directed continuously through said sections, a packer surrounding the upper section in spaced relation thereto and including a mandrel, an upwardly facing valve seat on said mandrel, a valve member on the upper section adapted to engage said seat, expansible packer means cn said mandrel, means movable on said mandrel to expand said packer "means, and a perforated tubular connection between the lower section of the iiow string and said means movable on the mandrel whereby fluid arising about the lower section may enter and pass upwardly through the annular space between the mandrel and the upper section outwardly of the device when the valve is lifted from its seat.

5. In a device o-f the class described, a now string comprising upper and lower telescopically connected sections, a packer surrounding one section and in annular spaced relation therewith, said packer including expansible packerv means and relatively movable parts to effect expansion thereof, a valve seat member on said packer, a valve member carried by said one section and adapted to engage said seat member and a perforate tubular connection between the packer and the other of said sections so that telescopic movement of the sections rst closes the annular passage through the packer and thereafter expands the packer means.

6. In a device of the class described, a flow string comprising upper and lower telescopically connected sections, a sleeve attached to one 0f the sections and extending outwardly about the other section, a packer surrounding said other section in annular spaced relation therewith and including relatively movable parts and expansible packer means adapted to be expanded thereby, one of said parts being attached to said sleeve, the other of said parts including a valve seat, and a valve carried by said other section and engageable with the valve seat to close the annular space between the packer and flow string and thereafter expand said packer means.

7. In a device of the character described, an annular head, an upwardly facing valve seat thereon, a valve adapted to engage said seat and comprising a cage having a passageway therethrough and a counterbore therein, a tubular extension attached to the cage and extending downwardly from within the counterbore, a shoulder on said extension, and an annular valve sealing assembly within the counterbore surrounding said extension and in engagement with and retained in place by said shoulder.

8. In a device of the character described, an annular head having an upwardly facing valvel seat thereon, a valve adapted to engage said seat and comprising a valve cage adapted to move axially of said head, said valve cage having a pas- 7 sagsway;therethmughy and? aA counterbore, a. tubu- Llar'member secured to the cage within they couniterbore, ashoulder on said. member, an annular valven sealing assembly within the ccunterbore, 4surrounding said tubular member and engaging saidshoulden,saidishoulder retaining the assem- =bly in the ccunterbore, said Valve sealing assembly comprising an openwork ram `assembly having an annular,` downwardly* opening groove in the lower face thereof,A and a body of resilient material moldedinto said ram assembly.

9. In a device of the character described, in combination with a packer having a head with aniupwardly facing seat thereon, and a ow string having asection extending within said packer, a valve on said flow string to engage said seat and controlthe discharge of fluid through thehead about the flow string, said valve comprising an annular valve cage having a passageway therethrough and a counterbore in one end thereof, a valve sealing assembly insaid counterbore about -said ow string, said valve sealing assembly comprising; a ram of smaller cross section than said counterboreV and lying partly within said counterbore and spaced from the inner end thereof, and a body ofresilient material filling said coun- :terbore except for the space occupied by said ram, "whereby when said Valve is closed against the valve seat said ram will encounter the Valve seat andr be. forced further into said counterbore, thereby urging said resilient material to seal more 'tightly between said cage and flow stringy and to flowoutwardl'y and seal moretightly against the valve seat. I0.V In a. device of the class. described, in combination withv a packer having a head with an upwardly facing seat thereon, anda flow string havingk a section extending within said packer, a valve on said flowstring to engage said seat and about` the ow string, said valvel comprisingl :a Valve cagek having a passageway-therethrough and al counterbore in one end thereof, and, a. valve sealing assembly in said counterbore about said section of the flow string, said valvel sealing assembly comprising spaced inner and outer annularY rams lying partly within and projecting partl;r from said counterbore and spaced from the inner end thereof, and aibody of resilient material conned between saidrams and extending into the space within` said., counterbore inwardly of said rams, whereby when said valve is moved against the Valve seat said annular rams will engage the valve seat and will be moved thereby further into said counterbore, thus urging said resilient'I material to W outwardly between the rams and to more tightly engage the seat.`

HERBERT ALLEN.

The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,160,515 Pranger May 30, 1939 1,422,704Y Heeter July 11', 1922 2,194,261' Allen Mar. 19, 1940 2,293,153 Lorehn et a1'. Aug. 18, 1942 2,172,592 Podolsky Sept. 12, 1939 2,085,997 Phipps July 6, 1937 2,109,351 Fisher Feb. 22, 1938 1,956,694 Parrish May 1, 1934 `2,133,462 McManis- Oct. 18, l1938 2,030,164' Crumley Feb. 11, 1936 2,194,260 Allen Mar. 19, 1940 2,194,264 Abercrombie et al. Mar. 19, 1940 

